If we liked breathing stale, recycled air, we’d all take up a sport like wrestling or indoor fly-fishing. But we love the feel of a gale on our faces. We cherish the smell of cow manure filling our nostrils with its almost tangible grittiness. We hold scared the privilege to breathe in diesel fuel while doing hill repeats up l’Alpe d’Huez.
But such whimsy is not for every day. Occasionally, we find ourselves faced with the prospect of an hour of solitude upon the wind trainer or rollers, where our sport is transformed from a glorious experience of powering ourselves along with only Nature for company to one where a ride of 30 minutes is barely tolerable, 45 seems like a lifetime wasted, and 60 minutes is more than most of us can even consider enduring. 60 minutes on the trainer at a leisurely pace or a 4 and a half hour death march up a barren, heat-riddled climb? I’ll take the 4 and half hours every time, thank you very much.
We all have to do it, and there are even some redeeming qualities to be had. You get better at Rule #5, for one. You develop a more magnificent stroke, for another. Whatever the redeeming qualities, we all have our way of coping. Jeff in PetroMetro returns with his view on how to make it suck just a little bit less.
Yours in Cycling,
Frank
—
Either due to life-threatening weather or poor scheduling of life’s lesser priorities (see Rule #11), we Velominati spend a little time each year riding indoors. Whether one enjoys a ride on rollers or a trainer, and no matter if one methodically spins (as all good recovery ride specialists do), grinds out intervals, or practices ways to improve one’s magnificent stroke (scrape the mud off your shoes, scrape the mud off your shoes…), death-by-boredom is always a possibility. I’m not one to go for videos, or read books, or hook up to a computer. Call me old fashioned. I like to meditate on the V with only the voices inside my head screaming for mercy from the pain of a complete lactic acid meltdown.
Or, sometimes I like a little music.
Back in the Dark Ages, I used the yellow (sweatproof) Sony Walkman to play my favorite homemade training cassette tapes. But in our modern days of inexpensive digital storage, and with the brilliant invention of the “shuffle” command on my iPod Nano, I have some seven hours of musical motivation to keep my indoor sessions lively and loud.
I thought I might start a little conversation regarding favorite training tunes. Now, I know ALL of my fellow Velominati strictly adhere to Rule #62 when riding outside. And of course, we prefer strict adherence to Rule #9, but, as I stated above, shit happens.
While I have eclectic taste, I don’t fancy Al Green, Buck Owens, or Duke Ellington when loving a Rule #5 beatdown. No. I tack to the loud and fast. My preferences are punk and “classic rock”. (It was just rock when I first heard it.) So here’s a little flavor of my indoor training selection, in no particular order.
Hate to Say I Told You So“”The Hives””from the album “Your New Favourite Band”
Tick Tick Boom“”The Hives””from the album “The Black and White Album”
American Idiot“”Green Day””from the album “American Idiot”
The Rock Show“”Blink 182″”from the album “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket”
I Fought the Law (Live)””The Clash””from the album “The Clash: Live at Shea Stadium”
Batman Theme“”The Jam””from the album “In the City”
Communication Breakdown“”Led Zeppelin””from the album “Led Zeppelin”
The Real Me“”The Who””from the album “Quadrophenia”
Rock Around the Clock“”Ten Pole Tudor””from the album “The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle”
Of course there are many, many others. But I offer these few picks-to-click to perhaps start a little discussion and get some musical ideas for my next indoor shopping spree at the V and Dime.
A-Merckx
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View Comments
@Cyclops
Happy FUCKING Birthday!!!
You've got me by ten years. I turn 40 in January.
Have a blast and get a good ride in to boot!!!
actor1 here, i'm a dude. thanks for allowing me to sit-in on the session. i swear, these posts are just ride a group ride. you get mostly everyone working together, then 1 or 2 wise-guys up the tempo, then slot back in. unless they put the hammer down, go on a flyer, & take the posts o/t. but for the most part, it's like a solid ride at a higher pace than you would go, if you went solo.
more music thoughts:
songs to add to the playlist:
SKINNY PUPPY-rabies-'tin omen' (incredibly fast break--i DARE you not to jam on the pedals...)
SLAYER-reign in blood-'angel of death' (ya ever notice how the guitar sounds like another song? see below...
KMFDM-naive-'godlike' (yup, same riff, but better in remixes; harder/faster)
albums to add:
BLACK FLAG-who's got the 10 & 1/2? (2nd best live album ever)
PANTERA-vulgar display of power
and if i ever become an inventor, i'm going to invent a clip-on light to the chainstay that shines up through the chain. that way, while riding rollers, you can see your cadence. just like the light on the side of a turntable that remains steady when you're up to speed (patent pending/official copyright notice/don't frakkin' steal this idea).
and the greatest advice i've taken from this site: take off the computer. pure, smooth, focus.
@Cyclops
hey, happy natal day!!!!
@actor1
*like a group ride...*
@Marcus
I sit to pee for this very reason ;)
@actor1
Yep. The V-meter is an outstanding device.
@mcsqueak
A+1
@Cyclops
We saw Neil Young in Madison Square Garden a few years back, right at the height of our recession, when our country looked very much like it would implode. He closed his set with that song. I almost lost my mind at how inspiring that song was under the circumstances. The most shocking thing? Me and the VMH were rockin' in the aisle, and everyone else was just sitting there, going, "What?"
I love Manhattan and New Yorkers, but that place is depressingly full of "I'm too cool for this shit" dooshbags.
@actor1
They already make these for guitar players to light up their effects boards. Check 'em out. Great idea, by the way. I'm going to do that fo'sho.
@all
Thanks for the burfday wishes. Turn 50 tomorrow, State Championship road race Saturday - the course doesn't have much climbing so I might stand a chance if I'm with the lead group at the end. Winning a SC jersey would be pretty awesome. Plus the race is the last one I need to upgrade to Cat 4. Not much chance of a 50 year old, fat, Cat 4 upgrading to 3 around here but at least I won't be a noob 5 anymore.
hmmmm too many - a lot of great ones mentioned - anything by Tool
also, bit of a mix:
Tribute to Nothing - 'Today is not the same'
Warren Zevron - 'My Shits fucked up'
Stanford Prison Experiment - 'Contusion'
Sick of it All - 'Disco sucks fuck everything'
Samiam - 'Full On'
Raging Speedhorn - 'Scrapin the resin'
Lost Prophets - 'To Hell we ride'
Kerbdog - 'Dry Riser'
Helmet - 'In the meantime'
Funeral for a Friend - 'the end of nothing'
I could go on...